Safety can with flexible spout



A ril 3, 1951 I. BARCLAY SAFETY CAN WITH FLEXIBLE SPOUT 2 Sheets$heet 1 Filed May 17, 1946 INVENTOR. J 1/47 ,3 41/6/45;

April 3, 1951 I. BARCLAY 2,547,847

SAFETY CAN WITH FLEXIBLE SPOUT Filed May 1'7, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 44 INVENTOR. m m

Ddf' 34/6/49 /7 777 FIVE/5:

Patented Apr. 3, 1951 SAFETY CAN WITH FLEXIBLE SPOUT Ivar Barclay, Highland Park, Mich., assignor to The General Detroit Corporation,

Detroit,

Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application May 17, 1946, Serial No. 670,378

3 Claims.

signed that it normally prevents escape of fumes or'the liquid contents of the can, but is adapted to be quickly and easily opened when the contents are to be dispensed. A related object is to provide such a receptacle having it parts so designed that a natural grip upon the supporting portions of the receptacle may also be effective to open the valving means, to permit dispensing of the contents as well as to open a suitable vent designed to prevent airlock and promote smooth laminar flow of liquid from the receptacle.

Another object is to provide such a receptacle constituting a further development of the invention disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 670,377, filed May 17, 1946, now Patent No. 2,490,194,dated Dec. 6, 1949, and utilizing closure actuating mechanism similar to that disclosed in said application but provided with two separate and distinct closure means, both actuable by the same actuating mechanism, one such closure means controlling the flow of liquid from the container and the other constituting a normally closed cover which serves both as a filler opening and as an air vent during the dispensing of liquid from the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unitary spout assembly adapted to be secured to a container of the indicated variety and serving as a support for the above mentioned closure means and also supporting the closure operating mechanism, and additionally functioning as a coupling means for a flexible nozzle tube or other dispensing nozzle, the arrangement being such that the spout structure in question may be prefabricated and installed as a unit upon the can or other receptacle in a quick and simple manner.

Other obiects and advantages will be apparent upon consideration of the present disclosure in its entirety.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a safety can constructed in accordance with the present invention, parts being broken away and shown in section, I i

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken as indicated by the line and arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional details taken substantially on the lines i4 and 5--5 respectively of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing, reference character i!) designates a sheet metal container, the details of construction of which form no part of my present invention, but which preferably corresponds to the disclosure of my copending ap plication above referred to. The domed top l2 of the receptacle is provided with a generally circular flattened forward area I4 to which the spout assembly, the body of which is generally designated 15, is applied as by riveting its base flange It to the flattened section, an opening I! in the bottom of the body l5 being arranged to register with an opening 18 formed in the fiattened section E4 of the top of the container. A tight seal between the base of the housing and the flattened section M may be insured by soldering these parts together, adequate mechanical strength being assured by the further use of the rivets IS.

The body I5 is provided with a vertical front opening 20 threaded as best shown in Fig. 3 to receive a coupling 22 for the flexible discharge or nozzle tube 24, and is also provided with a horizontal top opening 25 which serves both as an air vent and as a filler opening. The coupling member 22 is also provided with an inwardly projecting circular boss 26 surrounding the discharge opening 28 therein and serving as a seat for the valve3ll.

The valve element 30 consists of a suitable resilient facing disk 32, of treated leather or the like, and a rigid backing disk 34 which may be formed of sheet metal, the disks 32, 34 being centrally perforated to receive and to be supported by the stem 35 which fits relatively loosely in the perforation in disk 3%, but snugly in the aperture in the disk 32, which latter disk is of course relatively flexible. This arrangement permits limited rocking movement of the valve assembly, whereby the valve pad may accommodate itself to the seat, without permitting leakage. The stem and valve assembly are supported by a spring wire arm 36 extending downwardly from a transverse pin 38 fast in the upper portion of the housing directly behind the discharge cou- 3 pling opening 20, the spring wire being loosely wrapped about the pin 38 and having its other extremity 39 underlying the top wall of the housing, and the wire being of such character and so stressed as to bias the valve assembly toward closed position, serving as a torsion spring of such strength as to maintain the valve normally seated but permit it to be pulled away from its seat without undue manual effort, through the connections and linkage presently to be described. The lower end of the supporting spring wire arm 36 will be seen to be wrapped about the stem between the head 3'! and the backing disk 345. Disk 35 is provided with a rearwardly d11- rected convex central boss 34 of rounded. contour serving to space the main portion of backing disk 34 from the wire 36, to permit the aforementioned rocking movement of the valve assembly and to guide such rocking movement. A nut and washer assembly generally designated 40 may be employed to retain the valve assembly upon the stem 35. The position of the valve seat may be adjusted by turning the coupling nut to carry the seat portion 25 forward or rearwardly as may be required for alignment.

A rigid actuating arm 42 extends rearwardly and angularly downwardly from the back of disk 34 and is perforated at 42' near its lower. outer extremity to receive the actuating link 44, loosely pivoted therein and extending angularly upwardly and rearwardly therefrom.

The link i t is pivotally connected at its upper rear end to the under side of a combined cap and vent valve assembly 45, serving as a closure for the top opening 25 and adapted to be actuated simultaneously with the valve assembly 36. The cap-valve assembly 45 is downwardly flanged and proportioned to spacedly encircle the upstanding neck 45 which surrounds the opening 25, a sealing pad 48 of treated leather or the like being fitted in the cap and adapted to bear against the top of the neck 46 when the cap is closed. The sealing pad is retained upon a downwardly projecting stem 55 to which the link 44 is connected. Stem 50 is formed integrally with the cap and externally threaded to receive the nut 52 by which the pad 48 in retained. A- pair of spaced bearing lugs 54 project upwardly from the top of the cap near its center.

Lugs 54 support a transverse pin 55 providing pivotal connection between the cap and the nose of a bent lever 55 forming a part of the actuating means;

Lever 55 is formed of sheet metal and is thinner than the spacing between the lugs 55, while the hole 5? in the nose of the lever through which the pin 55 projects is substantially larger than the pin. Limited universal movement is thereby permitted between the cap and the lever. It will also beobserved that. the holes 50, 42', formed in stem 55, and army 42, respectively, through which the ends of link 44 are looped, are, of substantially greater diameter than the wir of which the link isforrned, the end loops. of the link also being of sufiicient radius to allow limited independent universal movement of. the cap iii and valve 30. Their freedom to automatically adjust themselves in positionto any disaligninent of the surfaces against which they seatis therefor not interfered with by the conmeeting or actuating mechanism.

The lever 55 may be of righteangular form, extending rearwardly from the cap through a slot 64' in the vertical front-leg, 53 0f .the. handle 62-,,

crum at its lower extremity defined by a pin 58. The lower extremity of the lever is bifurcated to loosely embrace a lug formed integrally with and projecting upwardly and rearwardly from the housing l5 while the fulcrum pin 58 projects through the bifurcated lower end of the lever and the lug. When the cap is closed, the upper portion of the lever is substantially horizontal and the rear portion substantially vertical, and the later then lies close to the vertical front leg 53 of the handle.

The handle 62 is of inverted U form, its rear vertical leg being designated 68. The lever 56 is of the third class, power being applied substantially at its apex, through the agency of a pull rod 65 connected to a pivot pin 66 transfixing the apex of the lever. The rear leg 68 s of the handle carries a guide tube 10 projecting forwardly therefrom at an elevation corresponding substantially to the mid-point of the vertical travel of pivot pin 66 during actuation of the lever, tube 10 exceeding the diameter of pull rod 65 sufficiently to permit the rod to rock without binding in the tube. The rod 65 is urged forwardly by a helical compression spring 12 trapped in the tube 10 behind the rod. A hand grip actuating piece M is mounted upon the rod 65 in vertical position and at such distance from the back leg 53 of the handle that the grip piece 74 and back leg may be conveniently grasped with one hand, permitting easy actuation of the pull rod by a simple manual squeezing action.

The lower portion of the vertical front leg 8-3 of the handle is collapsed front to back as indicated at 63 and as shown in section in Fig. 2, and such collapsed portion is formed to forwardly directed channel contour, for a purpose which will appear in connection with the operation of the actuating mechanism.

Actuation of the pull rod 65 by the hand grip portion 74" rocks the lever 55 and pin 55 carried thereby upwardly and rearwardly, lifting the cap 45. The'resistance of spring 36 acting through the link 44 tends to pull stem 50 to the left as viewed in Fig. 3, while the opening effort ex' ert'ed by lever 56 tends to move the top lugs 54 to" the right, the resultant effect being a ten dency on the part of the cap to cook to the right or clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3, toward open position, the rear edge of the cap remaining in contact with the-back of neck 46 until such time in the opening movement as the link 44 and its end pivot axes are colinear with the axis of lever'-' connecting pin 55 as viewed in side elevation. The cap 45 then moves bodily rearwardly until its rear edge strikes the front edges of the channeled vertical handle portion 63, whereafter the cap is rocked further in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, about the point of engagement between the cap and handle portion 83, until in its fully opened position the cap is approximately as shown in dot-dash line in Fig. 3, the valve assembly 30 being at the same time pulled open to the position also indicated in dot-- dash lines in that view.

The rear edge of the cap 45 is provided with a projecting lip 47 of such length as to eliminate any possibility of the rear. edge of the cap climbing or being forced over the top of the neck, which would of course lock the parts in the open position.

It will be seen that the arrangement and mountingof the valve assembly 30 and its actuating means, and the freedom of movement permita the universal joint supporting arrangement for the valve, as well as the loose connection of the link Mi, result in quick opening movement of the valve 39, but also cause the cap to open slightly before the valve, thereby preventing any possibility of air lock. Accidental spilling of liquid through the cap opening during pouring is discouraged by the baffle 25, formed integrally with the body 11 5 and extending angularly rearwardly partly beneath the cap opening. When the can is tipped forwardly, the capacity of the spout body 15 above valve 39 and below the edge of the bafile is sufficient to momentarily hold a substantial quantity of liquid until'it can flow out through the hose if the can is tipped too far during pouring, or if the valve is not opened fast enough as the can is being tipped for pouring. The valve assembly also has a baiiling effect, tending to direct the liquid out through the hose, while the baffle 2| has the further function of protecting the valve assembly from injury, as for example by the end of a funnel thrust into the spout for filling. The diameter of the opening 11 in the bottom of the body is approximately the same as the inside diameter of the hose, further tending to discourage too rapid pouring and in cooperation with the storage capacity of the spout assembly furnishing additional insurance against spilling. The vent provided by the cap opening permits air to enter the can above the outfiowing liquid, 4

and it will be seen that the conjoint functioning of the features of construction referred to is such as to render it a simple matter for the user to pour liquid from the can in a smooth-flowing laminar stream.

1. In combination with a receptacle for liquid, A

a pouring spout construction including a hollow body member securable as a unit to such a receptacle in a position to act as a pouring member, outlet nozzle means, a coupling portion threadedly mounted and securing said nozzle means with respect to said body, a valve seat portion carried by said coupling portion, and a valve element carried by the body independently of the coupling portion and movable to and from the seat portion to control escape of liquid through said nozzle means, whereby the relative positioning of the seat portion and valve element may be varied by adjusting the position of the coupling portion through the agency of its threaded securing means.

2. In combination with a receptacle for liquid, a combined spout and air vent construction comprising a hollow body securable as a unit to such a receptacle in a position to act as a pouring spout and having a discharge opening therein, valving means for such opening, said body also having another opening adapted to serve as an air vent and positioned higher than the previously mentioned opening, valving means for said second mentioned opening, and common actuating means for said two valving means, means pivotally supporting the first-mentioned valving means for bodily swinging movement to and from the discharge opening, pivot means rockably connecting said first-mentioned valving means to said supporting means, said actuating means including a valve-actuating element connected to said first-mentioned valving means independently of said supporting means and at a point laterally spaced therefrom, whereby said valving means is rocked with respect to the supporting means when actuated by said actuating means.

3. In combination with a receptacle for liquid, a combined spout and air vent construction comprising a hollow body securable as a unit to such a receptacle in a position to act as a pouring spout and having a discharge opening therein, valving means for such opening, said body also having another opening adapted to serve as an air vent and positioned higher than the previously mentioned opening, valving means for said second mentioned opening, and common actuating means for said two valving means, the valving means for the discharge opening being mounted within the body and swingable inwardly thereof to open said discharge opening, said second-mentioned valving means for the vent comprising a cap bodily swingable upwardly away from said vent opening, actuating means for said cap including an actuating element having a rockable connection to an outer part of said cap to permit limited independent universal movement of such cap, a link connecting said cap to the first-mentioned valving means and having a rockable lostmotion connection to at least one thereof to permit limited lost motion between said first-mentioned valving means and cap and also to permit limited independent universal movement of both, whereby said cap is actuatable to open the same before the valving means for the discharge opening, and both said first-mentioned valving means and said cap may rock to accommodate their seating to said openings.

IVAR BARCLAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 608,502 Abbee et al Aug. 2, 1898 694,932 Abbee et a1. Mar. 4, 1902 1,034,897 Fusner Aug. 6, 1912 1,103,319 Schisler July 14, 1914 1,195,102 Schmidt Aug. 15, 1916 1,709,265 Holt et al. Apr. 16, 1929 2,122,540 Sedwick et a1. July 5, 1938 2,147,230 Anschicks Feb. 14, 1939 2,173,142 Lebus Sept. 5, 1939 2,335,195 Packer Nov. 23, 1943 2,364,206 Gardes Dec. 5, 1944 2,365,695 Grice Dec. 26, 1944 

